On Top of the World
by Venomous Angel 75
Summary: SongFic based off of Boys Like Girls' song with the same title. One flock member's dealings with the loss of another. Fax


_The song is_ On Top of the World_ by Boys Like Girls. They just seem perfect for songfics. Please review._

_Look up, the stars are fading  
And I am still here waiting  
To see you again  
Be with you my friend  
_

His head tilted back in the night air to stare at the millions of pinpricks of light dotting the dark sky. He took a deep breath of chilly air and released it slowly.

His dark eyes lowered and swept across the vast expanse of the mountain forest, sparkling here and there with the lights of people brave enough to settle in the middle of nowhere.

He turned his head at the sound of crackling leaves, but he wasn't worried. What he kept watch for didn't make any sound.

The branch he stood on supported him well despite his six foot four muscled frame. The hollow bones of his body probably helped with that. There were advantages to being a genetically altered human bird hybrid. Wings were the other perk.

He spread those wings wide, expanding them to their full sixteen foot span. The dark feathers rustled softly in the light breeze.

His gaze drifted downward to the four other hybrids resting below the tree in which he stood. There should be one more.

His usually impassive face twisted in fury and pain. He wanted to roar into the open air, to release the agony caused by the loss of his best friend.

_  
When the moon is gone forever  
I hope you're up there somewhere  
I'll see you again  
Be with you my friend  
_

He dropped a couple of branches and punched the thick trunk of the tree that supported him. His knuckles split on the first strike, but he kept hitting until he heard some shuffling below.

Pieces of bark had fallen and likely hit someone on the head.

He flopped down onto the branch with his back against the trunk, or what was left of it. He let his head drop into his palms and pressed his eyes into the heel of his hand. He refused to cry. He couldn't cry anymore.

He needed to get out of here for a little while. A low whistle issued from his throat and soon one of the figures on the ground sat up with an answering whistle. He dropped to the ground in a graceful leap.

"I need to get out for a bit. Keep watch?" he whispered.

The shaggy strawberry blonde nodded silently and stuck out a fist. The dark one stacked his own on top of it and tapped the back of his hand.

"Be back soon," he said and leapt into the air, his dark wings moving up and down in powerful strokes to keep him airborne.

_  
'Cause all the roads they lead to where you are  
And all the streetlights shine like they were stars  
That's where you are  
_

The tension in his lean body loosened fractionally at the sensation of air sliding over and around his body. Flying was the only thing that calmed him now that she was gone.

He always thought of her when he was in the air. Everyone had learned to fly at the same time, but they had managed to stay airborne first.

The look on her face had been so exultant and happy. He hadn't ever seen her look like that before, nor would he again.

He bit his lip to change his line of thought and focused on the slight pain, the dull flow of blood creeping down his chin.

He looked down, seeing the little path of lights that lined the mountain highway. He dipped low to skim barely twenty feet above the weather beaten tarmac. He closed his eyes and let his other senses map out his surroundings. He did this often, trying to sense the world as if he were blind. One never knew what might happen. They all were proof of that.

He called out to her, mentally, searching for her in the stars. Weren't stars supposed to be the souls of people who had died? Did she have her own star?

He flipped onto his back and opened his eyes to stare at them again. Which one was hers?

He knew that he was being stupid. Stars were huge conglomerates of burning gas and fire. They couldn't be anything but what science said they were.

_  
Let's spend tonight on top of the world  
And we can do anything,  
We can be anything  
I'll meet you tonight on top of the world  
As real as it seems,  
You're only in my dreams  
_

'I wish you were here' he thought.

He thought he heard a wry laugh. _So do I_.

He halted abruptly in the air and spun in a fast circle, searching for her. It had sounded as though she were right next to him.

When nothing made itself known, he surged forward again with a powerful wing stroke, disgusted and angry at himself. Maybe it was his turn to go crazy. He was right at the brink anyway. Having his greatest love ripped away from him like that was enough to destroy his sanity. He hadn't even gotten to tell her.

He had promised himself that he would tell her when she got back. Maybe that had been his personal talisman of ensuring her return. She had to come back. He had to tell her.

He changed directions, flying straight up into the darkness. He could see for what seemed like thousands of miles.

He paused when it became hard to breathe and hung there in mid air, like treading water.

_  
Look out across the water  
Faces of lonely daughters and mothers who care  
But just can't be there  
Swear that I will see you someday  
I have to find a way  
To show you I care  
Even if you're not there  
_

There was so much that she hadn't gotten to do. That made him angry. He knew how much she wanted to find a place to keep them all safe, to let them rest and enjoy their lives. That was why she had left.

He had to live for her now. That was what he was doing here in the middle of nowhere. It was his job to keep them safe.

He had seen how it affected her to lose the flock to their proper families while never knowing her own origins. There was the possibility that Jeb was her father, but neither of them wanted to think of that. She just pretended that she didn't care. In reality, it broke her heart.

Perhaps he would try to find her parents. Maybe tell them how brave and beautiful and strong she had been. Maybe tell them how much he had loved her. Maybe he would get to tell her someday.

With a quick flap he headed back down to earth, not wanting to spend too much time in the thin air. It wouldn't do to plunge to his death because he passed out in the stratosphere.

_  
So I'm following the road to where you are  
(Meet you tonight on top of)  
The streetlights they will guide me to the stars  
That's where you are  
_

He followed the road back the way he came, returning to the flock. They were all he had left. Their lives were a tribute to hers.

He flapped hard, sending him streaking through the air. To have her power right now would be wonderful. He could cross the country and be back before dawn. Well, maybe not dawn, but before they started to worry.

The thought of the others brought him back to reality. He needed to get back. He was getting tired, even if he wouldn't admit it to himself. He had to care now. For them.

He pondered the different members of the flock while he wound his way unerringly back to their camp.

The youngest with her ever-growing store of gifts, sometimes disturbingly power-hungry statements, and deceptively innocent blue eyes that had seen more devastation than anyone ever should.

Her brother with his devilish smile and odd talents of mimicry and deathly flatulence. Yes, he was special, but indispensable. He carried the world and never once complained.

_Let's spend tonight on top of the world  
And we can do anything,  
We can be anything  
I'll meet you tonight on top of the world  
As real as it seems,  
You're only in my dreams _

The only African-American in their small group warmed some small part of his soul. She seemed fragile and even a little flighty, but she was anything but. She was responsible for getting most of the information they had, thanks to her computer osmosis thing. He was so proud of her.

Then, his second in command who most would term as a hindrance had always been so important. His supernatural senses, minus the sight, had kept them from capture and death so many times and yet his easy and friendly smile belied the determined fighter beneath.

He landed just above where said second in command perched and nodded that he would resume watch.

"Hey, don't worry about it," the younger hybrid said. "I'll get it 'till dawn. Get some sleep."

He was about to protest when he realized that the blonde was right. "Yeah," he said. "Thanks." He dropped noiselessly to the ground and settled onto his back, staring up at the stars barely visible between the trees. He tried to ignore the gaping emptiness eating through his chest.

As soon as he closed his eyes, she was there leaning against the tree under which he lay and squinting down at him in the dark.

My heart is empty without you  
Sometimes you don't know what you do  
And I need you tonight  
I'll fall asleep and it's alright  
Close my eyes and I'll be by your side

"Hey," she said with a small smile.

He sat up swiftly and grabbed her face in his hands. It was the first time he'd seen her since…then. His dark eyes raked over her, drinking in everything. His fingertips smoothed over her skin memorizing the softness and tracing scars. He inhaled her scent, wanting to brand it into his olfactory receptors so he could always smell the mixture of wind, feathers and apple shampoo. He felt moisture on his fingers where they cupped her cheek.

She was crying. "You have to let me go," she whispered. The tears came fast, spilling over in a steady stream.

"Never," he practically growled. "I let you go once and look what happened. I'm never letting go again."

She cried harder. He was scared now.

"I can't stay." She grabbed his hand and pressed her lips to his palm. Pale golden strands tickled his skin. She started to fade. "Goodbye."

He tried to hold on. "Wait, I have to tell you," he called desperately, stomach twisting in agony at knowing that she would be gone forever.

Just before she disappeared completely, she smiled, blinding him with her radiance. "I know. Me, too." And she was gone.

_  
Let's spend tonight on top of the world  
And we can do anything,  
We can be anything  
I'll meet you tonight on top of the world  
As real as it seems,  
You're only in my dreams _

He jerked awake, panting heavily in the darkness and reaching for her. He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes, grinding away the traces of tears cried in his sleep. "Wait for me," he whispered and he heard, murmured on the wind:

_Forever_

_  
Let's spend tonight on top of the world  
(On top of the world)  
As real as it seems,  
You're only in my dreams_


End file.
